George Jones

George Jones, who died on April 26 at age 81 in Nashville, was such a giant in the world of country music that a song Jim Lauderdale wroteÂ about him, “The King of Broken Hearts,” became a hit for George Strait. And that was a fitting appellation. Jones, who possessed a superlative, pitch-perfect baritone – Frank Sinatra reportedly once called him “the second greatest singer in the world” – was royalty as a vocalist. But he also exemplified the tension between …